At the Intersection of Faith and Culture

If The Left Was Consistent

The conflict over “gun control” is just the latest episode to reveal the unadulterated hypocrisy of President Obama and his ilk on the left.

Obama and his fellow travelers style themselves champions of “the downtrodden,” “the poor,” “the middle class,” and everyone else for whom “the rich” allegedly has it out. But if they really are who they would like for us to think they are, if their rhetoric was consistent with their policy prescriptions, then we should not expect for them to favor restrictions on the Second Amendment—i.e. “gun control.”

If those on the left were consistent, then we should expect to hear Obama condemn as “un-American” and “unpatriotic” the gross “inequality” or “disparity” between “the wealthiest one-percent of Americans,” like himself, and the other “99%” on the issue of security or self-defense.

If those on the left were consistent, we should expect to hear Obama blast “millionaires and billionaires,” “the children of privilege,” “the powerful,”—like himself—for the “greed” that they have shown in availing themselves of means of self-defense that they deny to “the disadvantaged” generally and “minorities” in particular.

If those on the left were consistent, we should expect to hear Obama decry the “unfairness” of “the advantaged,” like himself, lecturing working class, middle class, and lower class Americans about the need for “gun free” zones while sending their own children off to well-secured private schools.

If those on the left were consistent, we should expect to hear Obama demand a more just “distribution” of benefits and burdens vis-à-vis the issue of security or self-defense.

Just as the fabulously rich and powerful—like Obama—have the resources and connections to evade oppressive tax laws, so too do the fabulously rich and powerful—like Obama—have the resources to evade oppressive gun laws. Those who are not so rich or powerful, however, are made to feel the brunt of both.

If those on the left were consistent, we should expect to hear Obama renounce the “racism” of “gun control.”

Those areas with the highest incidence of gun violence are overwhelmingly poor and black. Those responsible for the gun violence almost always possess their guns illegally. Only if they are armed can the law-abiding residents of these neighborhoods hope to defend themselves against the criminal predators in their midst. But “gun control” makes it difficult, and, in some instances, all but impossible for this to happen.

As long as upper-crust whites and blacks—like Obama—have the means to self-protection while poorer blacks are denied such means, racial justice remains elusive, we should expect to hear the President say.

If those on the left were consistent, we should expect to hear Obama reject “the classism” of “gun control.” The latter imposes burdens upon “the 99%” of which “the one-percent”—like Obama—are free.

If those on the left were consistent, we should expect to hear Obama wax indignant over “the sexism” of “gun control.”

Purveyors of gun violence are overwhelmingly men. Men are also, on average, larger, stronger, and more aggressive than women. There is no greater equalizer, nothing can more swiftly “level the playing field,” than a gun. A gun is the greatest means by which women can defend themselves against men.

For disempowering women, “gun-control” furthers “the misogyny” to which women have been subjected for far too long. It functions as another sign that ours is a society that remains mired in “patriarchy.”

If those on the left were consistent, we should expect to hear Obama lambast “the ageism” of “gun control.”

The perpetrators of gun violence are almost always found among the young. And since the young are, on average, stronger and more aggressive than the aged, the latter are particularly vulnerable to being attacked. Again, nothing can help the cause of egalitarianism along more than that of a gun. The elderly more so than anyone else need to be able to arm themselves.

“Gun control” promises to leave this need unrequited.

If those on the left were consistent, “gun control” would be recognized as the Second Amendment killer that it really is.

If those on the left were consistent, they would no longer be on the left.

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At the Intersection of Faith and Culture

by Jack Kerwick

Regardless of one's views on religion, there is no escaping the fact that Western civilization is unintelligible in the absence of it -- of Christianity specifically. Indeed, even the secular ideologies of our generation derive their identity from the Christianity to which they are opposed. Culture and religion intersect in numerous ways. Through this blog, I explore the intricate relationship between them.